At a discussion panel on Thursday, February 11th, at the University of Connecticut, students, faculty and members of the community from different religious backgrounds came together to talk about the intersection between faith and feminism. The crowd represented the diversity of ideas in the discussion, as participants came wearing hijabs, crosses and other religious symbols.
The focus of the panelists’ discussion was the most pressing issues of faith and feminism, including women in leadership positions in the church, reproductive rights and the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community in these issues.
The event, Faith & Feminism, was sponsored by the Women’s Center, a cultural center on campus that has long been committed to the feminist movement.
Panelists Jocelyn Linnekin (left) and Joyce Wong (right) at the Faith & Feminism event on Thursday. Photo by Allen Lang/The Daily Campus.
Joyce Wong, a panelist and Assistant Director of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Hartford, said feminism is “a response to the injustice and oppression of women.”
The contentious issue generated an in-depth discussion about how faith plays a role in the feminist movement and how religious institutions affect women’s rights.
Jocelyn Linnekin, a panelist and professor of anthropology at UConn, said that in her opinion, “there is such a thing as bad religion for women.”
She added, “not all faith is compatible to feminism.”
Linnekin cited the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saying if a religion is not compatible with the declaration, it is a bad religion for women.
However, Linnekin agreed with the other panelists and much of the audience that women of different religious backgrounds often derive strength and meaning from their faiths.
Other issues that came up during the panel were the issues of society’s willful ignorance as it pertains to religion and religious stereotyping and misconceptions.
Linnekin mentioned the lack of religion classes at UConn and opportunities to learn more about diverse religions.
She said, “this institution seems doggedly deviant about not teaching students about the religions of the world.”
Some problems she cited were the absence of a religious cultural center, no option for a religion major, and no courses about Islam.
Linnekin created the religion minor at UConn and asserted that religion curriculum is nonexistent except for the courses she teaches.
According to Linnekin, there is an “abysmal ignorance of most Americans of the world’s religious diversity [that] this institution isn’t doing a whole lot to remedy.”
Wong also mentioned that often times women’s issues aren’t addressed in church, a problem that was a focus of the discussion panel.
She said there is “a silence about women’s issues.”
According to Wong, gender inequality can also be perpetuated in religious institutions. For example, in much of Christianity, God is portrayed as a man and women are often denied access to leadership positions.
“I was never really encouraged to exercise my voice,” added Wong, who was raised Catholic.
Audience members discussed the topic amongst themselves as the panelists set up for the discussion. Photo by Annie Belanger.
Venida Rodman Jenkins, the panel’s moderator, said that in order to remedy these issues, we need to “create spaces for women to have a voice and be affirmed.”
Jenkins, Director of the Speicher-Rubin Women’s Center for Equity and Diversity at New Jersey City University and adjunct professor at the New York Theological Seminary, also cited the importance of including the LGBTQIA+ community in these issues.
She said there are “a number of students that identify with the LGBTQIA+ community and are Christian [who are] told they can’t have a relationship with God because of their gender identity.”
We can address this issue by “being inclusive and bringing everyone to the table.”
Jenkins ended the discussion with some thoughts about how we can continue to address these issues and be more inclusive so that everyone has a voice to express their opinions about the intersection of faith and feminism.
“I hope we can continue to show love,” she said.